www.ssoar.info Red scare: FBI and the origins of anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943 Schmidt, Regin Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Monographie / monograph Zur Verfügung gestellt in Kooperation mit / provided in cooperation with: OAPEN (Open Access Publishing in European Networks) Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Schmidt, R. (2004). Red scare: FBI and the origins of anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-271396 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY-NC-ND Lizenz This document is made available under a CC BY-NC-ND Licence (Namensnennung-Nicht-kommerziell-Keine Bearbeitung) zur (Attribution-Non Comercial-NoDerivatives). For more Information Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.de Copyright © Museum Tusculanum Press RED SCARE Regin Schmidt: Red Scare. FBI and the origins of Anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943; e-book. 2004. ISBN 87 635 0012 4 Copyright © Museum Tusculanum Press Regin Schmidt: Red Scare. FBI and the origins of Anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943; e-book. 2004. ISBN 87 635 0012 4 Copyright © Museum Tusculanum Press Regin Schmidt RED SCARE FBI and the Origins of Anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943 e-Book Regin Schmidt: Red Scare. FBI and the origins of Anticommunism MUSEUM TUSCULANUM PRESS in the United States, 1919-1943; e-book. 2004. ISBN 87 635 0012 4 UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN 2000 [e-book – 2004] Copyright © Museum Tusculanum Press Regin Schmidt: Red Scare. FBI and the origins of Anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943; e-book © Museum Tusculanum Press 2004 English revision by Joyce Kling Composition by Ole Klitgaard ISBN 87 635 0012 4 An unchanged version in PDF format of the printed book: Regin Schmidt: Red Scare © Museum Tusculanum Press 2000 English revision by Joyce Kling Composition by Ole Klitgaard Cover design by Henrik Maribo Pedersen Printed in Denmark by Narayana Press, Gylling ISBN 87 7289 581 0 Supervisors: Inga Floto and Niels Bjerre Poulsen Published with the support of The Danish Research Council for the Humanities and Unibank-fonden Museum Tusculanum Press University of Copenhagen Njalsgade 92 Regin Schmidt: Red Scare. FBI and the origins of Anticommunism DK-2300 Copenhagenin the United S States, 1919-1943; e-book. 2004. ISBN 87 635 0012 4 Denmark www.mtp.dk Copyright © Museum Tusculanum Press Contents 1. Introduction: FBI and the Politics of Anticommunism ......... 9 The Literature on the FBI 10 Theories on the Development of the FBI’s Political Role 14 The Theses 18 The Sources 20 2.TheOriginsoftheRedScare .............................. 24 1919: The Revolution That Never Was 24 An Apathetic Opinion 28 The Business Offensive 32 The Patriotic Right 35 The Sensationalist Press 36 The States Crack Down 38 “The Search for Order” 40 The Bureau of Investigation and “the Administrative State” 43 The Federalization of Political Surveillance 50 Controlling the Aliens 55 The Betrayal of the Blacks 59 The War Against Radical Labor 69 The Wilson Administration and the Red Scare 72 3.TheBureauandtheRedScare ............................. 83 The Bureau and the Drive for Bureaucratic Expansion 83 The Personification of Social Unrest 86 The Bureau Network and Political Associationalism 95 The Bureau and the Patriotic Right 96 The Bridgman Affair 102 The Centralia Massacre 105 The Destruction of the World War Veterans 109 Following the Federal Lead: The Bureau and the States 115 The Bureau and the Lusk Committee 123 4.ConstructingtheRedScare ............................... 126 Assessing the Revolutionary Danger: The Seattle General Strike 126 Publicizing the Revolutionary Danger: The Overman Committee 136 Keeping the Files Up to Date 146 “The Anarchist Fighters”: The Bombscare of 1919 148 Financing the Red Scare: The Bureau and the Congress 152 Organizing the Red Scare 158 5. 1919: Containing the Social Unrest ........................ 167 “The Government is Watching” 167 Defending the Racial Order 179 Regin Schmidt: Red Scare. FBI and the origins of Anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943; e-book. 2004. ISBN 87 635 0012 4 Copyright © Museum Tusculanum Press The Red Summer of 1919 183 The Surveillance of Black Radicals 195 Strikebreaking 204 Protecting the National Economy 212 The Boston Police Strike 216 The Steel Strike 218 The Coal Strike 227 The Surveillance of Organized Labor 234 6. The Palmer Raids: Deporting Political Ideas 236 The Poindexter Resolution 237 The Origins of the Deportation Campaign 244 “A Vigorous and Comprehensive Campaign” 251 The Bureau Crusade: Banishing Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman 257 Rounding Up the Usual Suspects: The URW Raids 262 Publicizing the Radical Menace 271 The Sedition Bill 276 “To Protect the Government’s Interests” 278 Destroying Communism in America: The January 1920 Raids 290 7.TheDeclineandfalloftheRedScare ...................... 300 The Labor Department Insurrection 301 The Bureau Strikes Back 308 In Defense of Civil Liberties 312 Congress Investigates 313 The Bureau Oversteps the Line 317 8.Aftermath:TheFBIandPresidentialPolitics ............... 324 The End of Political Surveillance 324 The Bureau and the Origins of Presidential Intelligence, 1921-33 331 FDR, the New Deal and the FBI: The Threat From the Right 340 The Dies Committee, 1938-43 349 A “Suicide Squad” Against the Fifth Column 355 Conclusion: The FBI and Political Surveillance: From the Red Scare to theColdWar ............................................. 361 The Question About the Nature of the Communist Threat 361 The FBI and the Federalization of Political Surveillance, 1919-43 362 FBI and the Second Red Scare 365 “The Most Dangerous Agency in the Country” 368 Abbreviations 369 Bibliography 370 Index of Names 389 Regin Schmidt: Red Scare. FBI and the origins of Anticommunism in the United States, 1919-1943; e-book. 2004. ISBN 87 635 0012 4 Copyright © Museum Tusculanum Press Acknowledgements Researching and writing this book was most of the time a lonely pursuit. Yet, the task was lightened by the kindness and support shown by numerous individuals and institutions. It is indeed a pleasure to remember and acknowledge the many who made this reconstruction of the evolution of the FBI’s political role a possibility and a distinct pleasure. I received generous financial assistance from several institutions. A graduate scholarship at the Department of History, University of Copenhagen, in 1992 to 1995 enabled me to complete my Ph.D. dissertation, on which this book is based. A grant from the Fulbright Society financed a position as Visiting Researcher at Georgetown University in 1992 to 1993, which enabled me to conduct research into the FBI records at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Assistance from the Knud Højgaard Fond made it possible to visit a number of other archives and universities throughout the United States. Thepublication of this book is financed by a grant from the Danish Research Council for the Humanities. Visiting the United States, one is always struck by the helpfulness and aid given by the enthusiastic and efficient archivists and librarians everywhere. In particular, I would like to thank the following for as- sisting me during my visits to archives and libraries: John K. Van- dereedt of the Civil Reference Branch, National Archives, Washington, DC; James H. Hutson of the Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; the staff of the Research Unit, Office of Public Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, DC; Phillip M. Runkel of the Marquette University Archives, Milwaukee, Wisconsin;Dwight Miller of the Herbert Hoover Library, West Branch, Iowa; Raymond Teichman of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, New York; and Gregory A. Johnson of the Alderman Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia. I would also like to thank the following archivists and librarians for answering my inquiries and for locating information: Louise T. Jones of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Raymond W. Smock, Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Re- presentatives, Washington, DC; Ellie Arguimbau, Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana; Richard A. Shrader of the Manuscripts Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Michael Regin Schmidt: Red Scare. FBI and the origins of Anticommunism 7 in the United States, 1919-1943; e-book. 2004. ISBN 87 635 0012 4 Copyright © Museum Tusculanum Press Kohl of the University Libraries, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina; Ruth Anderson of the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota; Valerie Wingfield of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Division, The New York Public Library, New York; Gary Lundell of the Manuscripts and University Archives, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; James D. Folts of the New York State Archives, Albany, New York; Karen S. Campbell of the Guy W. Bailey/ David W. Howe Library, The University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont; Nancy Bartlett of Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Dana Moffitt of the George E. Allen Library, Booneville, Mississippi. In particular, I would like to thank Robert Self of Seattle, Wash- ington, who not only researched the Poindexter papers at the Uni- versity of Washington but also wrote a report on